0:00:03 > 0:00:07For Victorian Britons, George Bradshaw was a household name.
0:00:07 > 0:00:10At a time when railways were new,
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Bradshaw's Guidebook inspired them to take to the tracks.
0:00:15 > 0:00:19I'm using a Bradshaw's Guide to understand how trains transformed
0:00:19 > 0:00:21Britain and Ireland,
0:00:21 > 0:00:25their landscape, industry, society and leisure time.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28As I follow its roots 130 years later,
0:00:28 > 0:00:31it helps me to discover these islands today.
0:00:54 > 0:00:55I am continuing my journey,
0:00:55 > 0:00:59which began in Wexford in south-east Ireland
0:00:59 > 0:01:02and will end in Westport in the Northwest.
0:01:02 > 0:01:07Today I'm mapping my way across County Wicklow towards Dublin,
0:01:07 > 0:01:11the capital, hoping to encounter on the way aristocrats,
0:01:11 > 0:01:16knights and a prince, all harping on Irish history.
0:01:26 > 0:01:31I embarked on my Irish journey at the port of Wexford.
0:01:31 > 0:01:34As I move north to the capital and cross the country,
0:01:34 > 0:01:39I hope to uncover the symbols and institutions of Irish identity
0:01:39 > 0:01:41at a time of political tension,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44before ending on the wild Atlantic coast.
0:01:46 > 0:01:51On today's route I stop in Greystones in County Wicklow,
0:01:51 > 0:01:54before travelling to Dublin, where I explore the fair city.
0:01:58 > 0:02:02Along the way, I discover one of Ireland's greatest treasures...
0:02:03 > 0:02:06This embodies the soul of the nation, this instrument.
0:02:06 > 0:02:09I don't think that's an overstatement.
0:02:09 > 0:02:13..I hear how Britain sought to calm relations across the Irish Sea...
0:02:13 > 0:02:15So despite the political agitation,
0:02:15 > 0:02:18using the royal family is a good card to play?
0:02:18 > 0:02:19It's always a good card to play,
0:02:19 > 0:02:22especially if they're young and good-looking.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25..and test my mettle in a Dublin hostelry.
0:02:25 > 0:02:28A few of those and you'll be having the craic all night.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32I'm there for a bit of craic.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48My first stop today will be Greystones,
0:02:48 > 0:02:50where I will visit Powerscourt House,
0:02:50 > 0:02:56which Bradshaw's tells me was sold in 1876 for £200,000
0:02:56 > 0:02:59and is situated in a beautiful domain.
0:02:59 > 0:03:02Victorian tourists love their gardens and an advantage
0:03:02 > 0:03:04of the rainfall in Ireland
0:03:04 > 0:03:09is that its stately homes are surrounded by verdant parks and
0:03:09 > 0:03:10beautiful water features.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20The 47 acre Powerscourt estate
0:03:20 > 0:03:23is one of the best known stately homes in Ireland.
0:03:29 > 0:03:32It proclaimed British power in Ireland
0:03:32 > 0:03:35and, at the time of my guide, attracted the Victorian visitor.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44I'm alighting at Greystones, a small seaside town.
0:03:50 > 0:03:54Showing me around Powerscourt is assistant house manager
0:03:54 > 0:03:55Justin Doonan.
0:03:56 > 0:03:58Justin, Powerscourt is an imposing house
0:03:58 > 0:04:00and a rather beautiful one, too.
0:04:00 > 0:04:04- What are its origins?- Its origins, Michael, start around 1180.
0:04:04 > 0:04:08The French Norman family La Poer settled here at that time,
0:04:08 > 0:04:11around 1180, and they built one of the first castles
0:04:11 > 0:04:12that were built on the estate.
0:04:12 > 0:04:14But at some point that ownership changed?
0:04:14 > 0:04:16That ownership changed over many times.
0:04:16 > 0:04:19You had the La Poers, as I said, started off,
0:04:19 > 0:04:21you had the Fitzgeralds and the O'Toole families
0:04:21 > 0:04:24fighting over this area, and then from 1603,
0:04:24 > 0:04:28Queen Elizabeth I granted the land here to the Wingfield family.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32They had it all the way up until 1961.
0:04:32 > 0:04:35And of course the British Crown had that sort of power over Ireland.
0:04:35 > 0:04:36Absolutely.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42Ever since King Henry II's conquest of Ireland in the 12th century,
0:04:42 > 0:04:48the British Crown granted prime land to Irish aristocrats as a reward for
0:04:48 > 0:04:50loyalty or military service.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54The houses that they built came to symbolise the power of the
0:04:54 > 0:04:58British-backed ruling elite over the local population.
0:04:58 > 0:05:02And many absentee landlords directed the income that flowed to their
0:05:02 > 0:05:04estates in England.
0:05:04 > 0:05:07Here at Powerscourt the owner at the time of my guidebook was the seventh
0:05:07 > 0:05:10Viscount Powerscourt, Mervyn Wingfield,
0:05:10 > 0:05:12an Irish representative peer
0:05:12 > 0:05:15who played a very active role in his estate.
0:05:16 > 0:05:18How would you describe the contribution
0:05:18 > 0:05:20of this seventh Viscount?
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Well, this gentleman really is responsible for everything
0:05:23 > 0:05:26that we have around us. Apart from him building the house,
0:05:26 > 0:05:28he also created the gardens.
0:05:28 > 0:05:32This area that we're in now is the herbaceous border but it was the
0:05:32 > 0:05:33kitchen garden.
0:05:33 > 0:05:36Now, that's really important in terms of self-sufficiency
0:05:36 > 0:05:39for the estate and also for the village that we have here.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42And so how did you fare during the Great Hunger,
0:05:42 > 0:05:43beginning in the 1840s?
0:05:43 > 0:05:45Because we had this kitchen garden
0:05:45 > 0:05:48and it was self-sufficient we were able to supply the village.
0:05:48 > 0:05:51Everybody came here if they needed something.
0:05:51 > 0:05:54They were really very well-respected around this area and they were very
0:05:54 > 0:05:56helpful to everybody that came.
0:05:57 > 0:06:00The gardens helped to feed the residents of the big house
0:06:00 > 0:06:04and the local village and, like most estates of the 19th century,
0:06:04 > 0:06:07they provided pleasure, too.
0:06:07 > 0:06:11The seventh Viscount had travelled extensively and was inspired by the
0:06:11 > 0:06:15gardens that he had seen at the Palace of Versailles and at castles
0:06:15 > 0:06:16in Austria and Germany.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20One of the most striking things about the park is the topography,
0:06:20 > 0:06:23these beautiful slopes, the giant pond and so on.
0:06:23 > 0:06:24How was all this created?
0:06:24 > 0:06:26Well, this was a huge undertaking.
0:06:26 > 0:06:31These terraces behind us were dug out by hand, horse and cart.
0:06:31 > 0:06:36100 men it took ten years to dig out these gardens.
0:06:36 > 0:06:40This is the Victorian period of a kind of mania for collecting species
0:06:40 > 0:06:43and presumably the seventh Viscount participated in that, did he?
0:06:43 > 0:06:50He undertook 400,000 trees a year for ten years.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54That's four million trees throughout the park of the estate.
0:06:54 > 0:06:57His idea was to bring a little bit of the world back to Powerscourt.
0:07:00 > 0:07:03The Viscount brought many new species to Ireland,
0:07:03 > 0:07:06including Japanese sika deer.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09From his original one stag and three does,
0:07:09 > 0:07:13numbers have risen today to over 20,000.
0:07:20 > 0:07:24Within the old Deerpark is a beauty spot that Bradshaw's considers to be
0:07:24 > 0:07:26the chief attraction,
0:07:26 > 0:07:27and I agree.
0:07:40 > 0:07:43There are very few illustrations in my Bradshaw's
0:07:43 > 0:07:46but the Powerscourt Waterfall merits one.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50It is the largest falls in Ireland.
0:07:50 > 0:07:54And in the picture there's what I take to be a little sika stag.
0:07:54 > 0:07:59They didn't exactly "endeer" themselves with the local farmers,
0:07:59 > 0:08:02who found them a 12-pointed pest.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24Greystones is the southernmost station
0:08:24 > 0:08:27on the Dublin Area Rapid Transit, or Dart, system.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36This coastline and city network serves 31 stations.
0:08:44 > 0:08:46One of my favourite passages in Bradshaw's,
0:08:46 > 0:08:48"The entrance into the Bay of Dublin
0:08:48 > 0:08:53"unfolds one of the finest prospects ever beheld.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56"On the right, the rugged hill of Howth with its rocky bays,
0:08:56 > 0:09:01"wanting only a volcano to render the scenery a facsimile
0:09:01 > 0:09:03"of the beautiful Bay of Naples,
0:09:03 > 0:09:08"whilst at the extremity of a white line of masonry, fringing the sea,
0:09:08 > 0:09:11"the lighthouse presents its alabaster front."
0:09:11 > 0:09:15The city was the second of the British Empire.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Some proud Dubliners might say the first in beauty.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Dublin became the capital of the English Lordship of Ireland
0:09:40 > 0:09:42from 1171 onwards.
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Built on the banks of the River Liffey,
0:09:46 > 0:09:50it was during the 18th-century that many of the city's notable Georgian
0:09:50 > 0:09:51buildings and streets were built.
0:10:00 > 0:10:03I am arriving at Dublin's Connolly station,
0:10:03 > 0:10:08opened in 1844, which retains its distinctive Italianate facade.
0:10:18 > 0:10:22Bradshaw's guidebook encourages discerning Victorian tourists
0:10:22 > 0:10:27to make a beeline for one of the city's most venerable institutions,
0:10:27 > 0:10:28and it's my first stop.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36This is the magnificent Trinity College Dublin,
0:10:36 > 0:10:41founded, according to Bradshaw's, in 1591 by Queen Elizabeth,
0:10:41 > 0:10:46"With a Grecian front," behind me, "of 308 feet,
0:10:46 > 0:10:49"it's comprised of three quadrangles or squares.
0:10:49 > 0:10:54"In Library Square is a fine room with 150,000 volumes,
0:10:54 > 0:11:00"including the Book Of Kells and the harp of Brian Boru."
0:11:00 > 0:11:06If Ireland is a church or temple, this is its altar or tabernacle.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Created in the ninth century, the Book Of Kells
0:11:13 > 0:11:17is a richly decorated manuscript of the four Gospels.
0:11:17 > 0:11:21It's generally considered to be the finest surviving illuminated
0:11:21 > 0:11:23manuscript produced in medieval Europe.
0:11:25 > 0:11:29It is kept here along with the other treasure mentioned in my Bradshaw's,
0:11:29 > 0:11:32the harp of Brian Boru.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35I'm meeting historical harpist Siobhan Armstrong.
0:11:35 > 0:11:37Hello, Michael. It's nice to meet you.
0:11:37 > 0:11:38Very nice to see you.
0:11:40 > 0:11:44The library of Trinity College dates from the early 18th century
0:11:44 > 0:11:46and is awe-inspiring.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52Siobhan, what a stunning room. I think it's one of the loveliest
0:11:52 > 0:11:54rooms I've ever seen, one of the best in the world, perhaps.
0:11:54 > 0:11:56I'm so glad you like it.
0:11:56 > 0:11:59Bradshaw's tells me there are 150,000 volumes here.
0:11:59 > 0:12:00I think there may be even more.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Apparently there are 200,000 first editions
0:12:03 > 0:12:06- in this part of the library alone.- And the harp?
0:12:06 > 0:12:07Ah, the harp, which is down here.
0:12:13 > 0:12:17So, an extraordinary and, I believe, very hallowed object.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19- It is.- Tell me about Brian Boru
0:12:19 > 0:12:21and tell me about the harp.
0:12:21 > 0:12:23Ardri Brian Boru,
0:12:23 > 0:12:26otherwise known as the High King Brian Boru of Ireland,
0:12:26 > 0:12:28was the High King who
0:12:28 > 0:12:32successfully fought the Danes but died doing so in 1014.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36This harp is traditionally said to have been his instrument but that's
0:12:36 > 0:12:40quite unlikely because it's probably not that old.
0:12:40 > 0:12:42It's presumably a late medieval instrument,
0:12:42 > 0:12:46and if I were pushed I would say maybe the 15th century.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48How on earth did the harp come to Trinity?
0:12:48 > 0:12:52It was given to the college in 1782 by William Conyngham, who lived in
0:12:52 > 0:12:53Slane Castle.
0:12:53 > 0:12:56If you'd like to know the mythical version of how it got
0:12:56 > 0:12:58from Brian Boru all the way to Trinity,
0:12:58 > 0:13:02it's that Brian's son, Donnchad, made a pilgrimage to Rome in
0:13:02 > 0:13:061063 and gifted the harp to the Pope.
0:13:06 > 0:13:11A later Pope then supposedly gave the harp as a gift to Henry VIII in
0:13:11 > 0:13:13the 1520s, who was then Lord of Ireland,
0:13:13 > 0:13:15so it would've been an appropriate gift.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17And then it moves through various hands
0:13:17 > 0:13:20until it gets to William Conyngham.
0:13:20 > 0:13:22But 1782 is when we know it shows up here.
0:13:22 > 0:13:24What a gorgeous thing. What a gorgeous thing.
0:13:24 > 0:13:26What does it mean to the people of Ireland?
0:13:26 > 0:13:28Oh, that's quite a question, Michael.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32It's... I think this embodies the soul of the nation, this instrument.
0:13:32 > 0:13:35I don't think that's an overstatement.
0:13:35 > 0:13:37For the Victorian tourist visiting Ireland,
0:13:37 > 0:13:41the treasures at Trinity College would've been top
0:13:41 > 0:13:45of their Dublin itinerary. This harp is priceless and not to be played,
0:13:45 > 0:13:47but Siobhan has a replica.
0:13:47 > 0:13:50How does the harp become the symbol of Ireland?
0:13:51 > 0:13:55We see it for the first time on an Anglo-Irish coin in 1534,
0:13:55 > 0:13:58minted by Henry VIII, with a crown on top,
0:13:58 > 0:14:00and of course this is a very deliberately placed there
0:14:00 > 0:14:04since Ireland is becoming a colony of England at that period.
0:14:04 > 0:14:06But of course the Irish always want to get the crown off the top
0:14:06 > 0:14:10the harp, so we see it in the 1790s, in the prelude to the revolution
0:14:10 > 0:14:15of 1798, being used by the United Irishmen without the crown.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17This is a very significant moment.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19And today it is an official symbol.
0:14:19 > 0:14:23Yes, it became official symbol in the early 20th century. It's not
0:14:23 > 0:14:26just a generic Irish harp, but it is this harp.
0:14:26 > 0:14:29In fact, this is of course a replica of the one in the glass case.
0:14:29 > 0:14:31The Trinity College Brian Boru harp
0:14:31 > 0:14:35is the national emblem of Ireland now, very specifically.
0:14:35 > 0:14:37And does that replica play?
0:14:37 > 0:14:38It certainly does.
0:15:23 > 0:15:25- Thank you.- You're so welcome.
0:15:31 > 0:15:35The harp certainly produces a traditional sound of Ireland
0:15:35 > 0:15:39but Dublin's fair city inspired a song which has become
0:15:39 > 0:15:41an unofficial anthem.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44# Cockles and mussels
0:15:44 > 0:15:47# Alive, alive-o! #
0:15:49 > 0:15:53The folktale of fishmonger Molly Malone is beloved by tourists
0:15:53 > 0:15:56coming to the city.
0:15:56 > 0:16:00And the song is no doubt often heard at the end of the night in one of
0:16:00 > 0:16:02Dublin's other attractions, its public houses.
0:16:11 > 0:16:13- Good evening, barman. - Good afternoon, sir.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16May I complement you on your lovely old pub?
0:16:16 > 0:16:19- How old is this? - This pub is about 300 years old.
0:16:19 > 0:16:20- Really?- Yeah.
0:16:20 > 0:16:23I have a guidebook here that's only about 130 years old,
0:16:23 > 0:16:27tells me that local products are Guinness and whiskey.
0:16:27 > 0:16:29Which of those should I have?
0:16:29 > 0:16:32Well, to be honest, I reckon you should have both.
0:16:32 > 0:16:33And have the two together?
0:16:33 > 0:16:35Well, you're in Ireland so you have to have the two together.
0:16:35 > 0:16:37Right. Thank you.
0:16:42 > 0:16:44This will probably kill me.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49Now, one stout and one single whiskey.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52So, a good sup of the black stuff.
0:16:55 > 0:16:59Mmm. Which is lovely and creamy and cold.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00And then a drop of whiskey.
0:17:02 > 0:17:04Mmm!
0:17:05 > 0:17:07Let it move around the mouth.
0:17:09 > 0:17:10A little bit like fire.
0:17:13 > 0:17:15Mmm.
0:17:15 > 0:17:16Fire brigade.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19And, of course, a few of those
0:17:19 > 0:17:22and you'll be having the craic all night.
0:17:22 > 0:17:24I'm there for a bit of craic.
0:17:37 > 0:17:41It's a new day and I'm staying in the glorious city of Dublin,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43as my guidebook has much more in store for me.
0:17:48 > 0:17:51Bradshaw's has directed me towards St Patrick's,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53or the National Cathedral,
0:17:53 > 0:17:58"An early English cross with spire and buttresses
0:17:58 > 0:18:04"thoroughly restored 1861-1865 by Sir Benjamin Guinness."
0:18:04 > 0:18:08"Here, the Prince of Wales," that would be the future King Edward VII,
0:18:08 > 0:18:14"was installed Knight of St Patrick in April 1868."
0:18:14 > 0:18:19A protestant Prince in a Protestant cathedral set amongst a largely
0:18:19 > 0:18:21Catholic population -
0:18:21 > 0:18:23the politics must've been tricky.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30Dublin's Protestant population is very small,
0:18:30 > 0:18:34yet St Patrick's is one of two Anglican cathedrals in the city.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40I'm meeting 19th-century specialist Dr Ciaran O'Neill.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49Ciaran, St Patrick's is an impressively ancient
0:18:49 > 0:18:50and beautiful cathedral.
0:18:50 > 0:18:54Bradshaw's talks about a refurbishment in the 1860s
0:18:54 > 0:18:55by Benjamin Guinness.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58- Tell me about that.- Yeah, it's a very controversial refurbishment.
0:18:58 > 0:19:00We're standing in the side of a 13th century cathedral,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03but really we're standing in a cathedral that Benjamin Lee Guinness
0:19:03 > 0:19:05built in the mid-1860s.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07The refurbishment was near total.
0:19:07 > 0:19:09There really isn't much of the medieval cathedral left,
0:19:09 > 0:19:14so from 1860 to 1865 the Guinness family paid a huge sum of money to
0:19:14 > 0:19:16rebuild this in their own vision.
0:19:16 > 0:19:18- Guinness as in the black stuff? - Yeah, very much.
0:19:18 > 0:19:20Yeah, absolutely. Of the brewery fame.
0:19:21 > 0:19:23And what might he have hoped to get from that?
0:19:23 > 0:19:24His motivations aren't entirely pure,
0:19:24 > 0:19:27so in one sense it's a beautiful gift to the people of Dublin
0:19:27 > 0:19:29and to the Church of Ireland,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31in another sense it's part of a long-term Guinness
0:19:31 > 0:19:33project to buy their way into the aristocracy.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35And he eventually is rewarded in that way,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38he becomes a baronet, which is one of the lower levels
0:19:38 > 0:19:41but nevertheless begins the process.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48Now, what about those references in Bradshaw's to the Prince of Wales
0:19:48 > 0:19:49and the Order of St Patrick?
0:19:54 > 0:19:57The Order of St Patrick are an order set up in 1783,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59really at a moment after the French Revolution
0:19:59 > 0:20:00and the American Revolution
0:20:00 > 0:20:05where there's a need to shore up the loyalty of the Irish nobility.
0:20:05 > 0:20:09So the King, George III, creates an order that is on a par,
0:20:09 > 0:20:12at least symbolically, with the Order of the Garter, much older,
0:20:12 > 0:20:13and the Order of the Thistle in Scotland.
0:20:13 > 0:20:17And these banners, these standards, represent those families?
0:20:17 > 0:20:19Yes, these are the original 15 families.
0:20:20 > 0:20:23Now, it's decided to give it to the Prince of Wales,
0:20:23 > 0:20:25the future King Edward VII.
0:20:25 > 0:20:27He's not short of titles.
0:20:27 > 0:20:29No, but this one is an important one to give him.
0:20:29 > 0:20:32This is about the Irish people being able to celebrate a monarch taking
0:20:32 > 0:20:36their premier order but it's also about the monarchy
0:20:36 > 0:20:39and the royal family showing a willingness to really
0:20:39 > 0:20:40be part of Ireland.
0:20:41 > 0:20:44The Prince of Wales' visit in 1868
0:20:44 > 0:20:48came at a time of strained Anglo-Irish relations.
0:20:48 > 0:20:52The previous year had seen a failed uprising by so-called Fenians.
0:20:52 > 0:20:55Affection for the Queen was on the wane.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00She'd withdrawn into mourning after Prince Albert's death in 1861
0:21:00 > 0:21:03and radical Irish nationalism was growing.
0:21:03 > 0:21:07The Prince of Wales was sent to repair the damage.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09The Prince of Wales, Bertie as he was often known,
0:21:09 > 0:21:11was quite a popular fellow.
0:21:11 > 0:21:13- Did he do well here?- Absolutely.
0:21:13 > 0:21:14His visit is a massive success.
0:21:14 > 0:21:17Tens of thousands of people line the streets on his way here and they
0:21:17 > 0:21:20played it in a very savvy way.
0:21:20 > 0:21:23When the Prince of Wales arrives, he's wearing shamrock,
0:21:23 > 0:21:26his wife is wearing poplin and other Irish produce.
0:21:26 > 0:21:29They shake Catholic hands for the week that they're here.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31They make a big effort and it's a success
0:21:31 > 0:21:34and not only do the Irish people take to Bertie,
0:21:34 > 0:21:37but they really fall for his wife, Alexandra of Denmark.
0:21:37 > 0:21:40She's the real success story of the week they spend here.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42At a time of political agitation,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45a Protestant prince in a Protestant cathedral,
0:21:45 > 0:21:47is that not a bit offensive to the Catholic population?
0:21:47 > 0:21:50Yeah, that was a very carefully managed aspect of the ceremony.
0:21:50 > 0:21:55They wanted to make it as ecumenical as possible, so they didn't hold a
0:21:55 > 0:21:57Protestant service, not only that,
0:21:57 > 0:21:59they invite lots of Catholics into this cathedral.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02It's a ticketed event and there are a huge amount of Catholics present
0:22:02 > 0:22:05- here on the day.- So at a time of political tension,
0:22:05 > 0:22:08using the royal family is a good card to play?
0:22:08 > 0:22:10It's always a good card to play,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12especially if they're young and good-looking.
0:22:20 > 0:22:25Within Dublin's city centre is this huge and beautiful sanctuary
0:22:25 > 0:22:27of Phoenix Park.
0:22:28 > 0:22:33Bradshaw's tells me that the, "Vice regal lodge is in Phoenix Park
0:22:33 > 0:22:37"on the west side of Dublin." In 1882,
0:22:37 > 0:22:40as the British government's Cabinet Minister for Ireland
0:22:40 > 0:22:43and his top civil servant approach the house,
0:22:43 > 0:22:46they were set upon and stabbed to death
0:22:46 > 0:22:50in an event that caused horror throughout Britain and indeed much
0:22:50 > 0:22:54of Ireland. At the time, 80 Irish members of the British Parliament
0:22:54 > 0:22:56were arguing for home rule
0:22:56 > 0:23:00and the Phoenix Park murders indicated that some Irish
0:23:00 > 0:23:04had already lost patience with constitutional reform
0:23:04 > 0:23:09and believed that independence could be achieved only through violence.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14Today the lodge is the official residence
0:23:14 > 0:23:17of the President of Ireland
0:23:17 > 0:23:20and is one of several historic institutions in the park.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26Bradshaw's tells me that here in Phoenix Park, "The Mountjoy Barracks
0:23:26 > 0:23:29"is the depot for the great Irish Ordnance Survey,
0:23:29 > 0:23:33"which extends to 1,600 sheets."
0:23:33 > 0:23:35That work is still done here.
0:23:35 > 0:23:40I'm interested to know how the topography of this green island was
0:23:40 > 0:23:44committed to paper and why it was so important to do so.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54During the 19th century, the national ordnance office
0:23:54 > 0:23:58was involved in an extraordinary undertaking.
0:23:58 > 0:24:01I'm meeting one of today's team of mappers, Andy McGill.
0:24:04 > 0:24:08What role does Ireland play, do you think, in the history of map-making?
0:24:08 > 0:24:10Well, Ireland were the first country in the world to be mapped at
0:24:10 > 0:24:13large-scale, six inches to one mile.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15What's the importance of six inches to one mile?
0:24:15 > 0:24:16It's a large-scale map,
0:24:16 > 0:24:19so it was large enough to actually define properties and property
0:24:19 > 0:24:22boundaries but it was also, I suppose,
0:24:22 > 0:24:25getting that balance right between the efficiency of not having
0:24:25 > 0:24:27too many map sheets covering the country,
0:24:27 > 0:24:29but yet getting the detail that was required in the mapping.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34The British government wanted accurate maps of Ireland
0:24:34 > 0:24:35so that they could tax it.
0:24:36 > 0:24:42In 1824, a team of surveyors led by the brilliant Colonel Thomas Colby
0:24:42 > 0:24:44began to create a record of the landscape
0:24:44 > 0:24:46with a precision never seen before.
0:24:48 > 0:24:52In this box we have a bar known as Colby's bar.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54Colby invented this bar
0:24:54 > 0:24:56and what was unique about it was it's made up of two
0:24:56 > 0:24:59different metals, brass and iron - so in varying temperature,
0:24:59 > 0:25:01the bar will never change its dimensions.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04And what they did was they measured a baseline along Lough Foyle,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08eight miles long using a number of these bars.
0:25:08 > 0:25:11So they would set them up on wooden trestles in a straight line,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13they would put tents over them to give them
0:25:13 > 0:25:15some protection from the elements.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19It took them approximately 60 days for about 70 people to
0:25:19 > 0:25:20measure this line with extreme accuracy,
0:25:20 > 0:25:23and that was the basis for all of the mapping in Ireland.
0:25:23 > 0:25:26So he establishes a baseline.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28What is the point of that?
0:25:28 > 0:25:31Mapping in general for any nation is based on triangulation.
0:25:31 > 0:25:35The idea behind this was that we would create triangles
0:25:35 > 0:25:38all over the country, and these would be points on top of mountains
0:25:38 > 0:25:40and people may recognise trig pillars,
0:25:40 > 0:25:43concrete pillars on top of mountains around the country.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46This was the first baseline for the first triangle.
0:25:46 > 0:25:49Once you have your first triangle you build a series of triangles from
0:25:49 > 0:25:53that, until you cover the entire country.
0:25:53 > 0:25:57It's amazing, so actually all the triangles are subsidiary
0:25:57 > 0:25:58to the first line.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01Correct. They're all based on this very first line and all the mapping
0:26:01 > 0:26:03of the country to this present day
0:26:03 > 0:26:06started with the bar that's inside this box.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08To calculate the angles,
0:26:08 > 0:26:12the team used an instrument known as a theodolite.
0:26:12 > 0:26:14This is a Troughton Simms theodolite
0:26:14 > 0:26:17and this would have a horizontal circle on it to measure horizontal
0:26:17 > 0:26:19angles. It also has a vertical circle on it
0:26:19 > 0:26:21to measure vertical angles.
0:26:21 > 0:26:24We set up the theodolite on both ends of that baseline
0:26:24 > 0:26:26and measure the angles to the third point
0:26:26 > 0:26:29and therefore you've created your first triangle for the
0:26:29 > 0:26:30mapping of Ireland.
0:26:32 > 0:26:34The survey of Ireland was unprecedented.
0:26:34 > 0:26:38The methods were replicated in the rest of the British Isles and across
0:26:38 > 0:26:44the Empire to create maps that were essential to planners and engineers
0:26:44 > 0:26:47in the new era of railways and imperial power.
0:26:49 > 0:26:51You're a professional in this field,
0:26:51 > 0:26:54how do you feel about Colonel Thomas Colby and his team?
0:26:54 > 0:26:58I think what Colonel Thomas Colby and his team achieved back in 1824,
0:26:58 > 0:27:01when I compare it to the methodologies that we use today,
0:27:01 > 0:27:06using satellite technology, field equipment such as GPS technology,
0:27:06 > 0:27:08I think what they achieved still stands up today.
0:27:08 > 0:27:10I think it's mind-boggling.
0:27:16 > 0:27:21The bonds between Great Britain and Ireland where thick and ancient.
0:27:21 > 0:27:25Queen Elizabeth I had founded Trinity College Dublin
0:27:25 > 0:27:28and the future King Edward VII had been invested
0:27:28 > 0:27:33as a Knight of St Patrick, while the English Wingfield family had owned
0:27:33 > 0:27:36Powerscourt for many centuries.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38But an increasing number of Irish saw the relationship
0:27:38 > 0:27:40as purely colonial.
0:27:40 > 0:27:43Tired of providing accompaniment to the British,
0:27:43 > 0:27:48they longed to hear the Irish harp loudly playing solo.
0:27:56 > 0:28:00Next time, I get up to speed with modern archaeology...
0:28:01 > 0:28:03- That was excellent. - HE SIGHS
0:28:03 > 0:28:05- That was perfect. - Do you really go at that pace?
0:28:07 > 0:28:10..discover a glorious hidden wonder...
0:28:10 > 0:28:13This is the best chapel in Ireland by a long shot.
0:28:13 > 0:28:16You can't come to Ireland and not see this, can you?
0:28:16 > 0:28:17No.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19..and get my marching orders.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22If you're going to join them, beat.